With 2015 just starting, many people are looking forward in the new year to find cost cutting solutions. One way people are doing that is with cutting the [cable] cord. I’ve outlined below three budget home threatre PCs that anyone can setup as a streaming box.
When you cut the cord, typically you would want to replace your cable box with something else that can play or stream media. There are many pre-built solutions out there (see here, here), but many times it is much more worth while and worth your money to build a custom one.
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Build 1
| Part | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Case | Apex DM-387 HTPC Case w/275W Power Supply | $45.34 |
| Motherboard | ASUS H81M-A LGA 1150 | $58.93 |
| CPU | Intel Pentium G3420 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor | $67.99 |
| RAM | Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $37.27 |
| Power Supply | Included with case | N/A |
| Hard Drive | A-Data Premier Pro SP600 32GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $41.29 |
| Total: $250.82 |
Notes: The case on this build is nice, it includes a PSU and is well made. I’ve personally used one for about 2 years now. With the Intel G3420 you will be able to watch and stream 1080p no problem. Overall nice build, but on the ‘bigger side’ with the larger case.
Build 2
| Part | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Case | M350 Universal Mini-ITX | $39.20 |
| Motherboard | ASRock Motherboard Micro AM1H-ITX | $58.49 |
| CPU | AMD Athlon 5350 APU | $65.99 |
| RAM | Crucial 2GB DDR3 | $22.67 |
| Power Supply | 90w Universal Ac Adapter | $12.99 |
| Hard Drive | A-Data Premier Pro SP600 32GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $41.29 |
| Total: $240.63 |
Notes: Since this is a Mini-ITX build, it has a small footprint. The motherboard is loaded with features, best of which is the ability to use a laptop AC adapter to power it. With the AMD you will also get great video performance.
Build 3
| Part | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Case | Intel NUC DN2820FYKH | $134.99 |
| Motherboard | See above | N/A |
| CPU | See above | N/A |
| RAM | Crucial 4GB Single DDR3 | $35.99 |
| Power Supply | Included with case | N/A |
| Hard Drive | ADATA SP600 2.5-Inch 64 GB SSD | $47.99 |
| Total: $218.97 |
Notes: Lastly is our Intel NUC build. The smallest HTPC of the bunch. Very nice case, very good CPU and Mobo combo as well. All you need to do is open it up, plug in the RAM and SSD and you’re in business. Probably the best HTPC of the bunch if I had to pick one.
There you have it folks. Three budget HTPCs that will play 1080p without breaking a sweat. These will last several years, providing hours of cheap entertainment.
Leave your comments or questions below and I’ll be more than happy to help you out.
Thanks!
Alex
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If your intent is to just stream and play 1080 media, then why not just get a roku or something for under $100.
You should mention that these builds don’t provide what I would consider primary features of a htpc, such as live tv and dvr.
Hi David,
A HTPC like this offers expandability in the future, or upgrades down the line. A roku will become obsolete in 1-2 years once a new version comes out.
HTPCs like these also allow the builder to beef up the CPU in favor of light gaming like emulators or Steam.
As for your comment on LiveTV and DVR, sure those features may not be built in, but you aren’t going to get those features on a Roku, nor on a HTPC thats sub $250. You’re sort of missing the point of the build lists, which is to provide a solid foundation for HTPC builds, which people can use as-is or expand to include features they desire.
I am in fact using one of these builds with a LiveTV/DVR solution, but it isn’t built into the HTPC, it’s running on my homeserver with NextPVR.
Hi Alex,
I suppose you would suggest to use OpenElec with these builds? Or Kodi on Ubuntu OS? Also, I’ve read that Raspberry Pi 2 can be used also as a basic HTPC, also with OpenElec. Would you consider this? Or would the 3 hardware above be WAY BETTER than the Pi 2?
Hey Ron,
Yes, I recommend anyone run OpenELEC over Kodi on Ubuntu. If you’re building a HTPC, then have it do one thing and one thing REALLY well. OpenELEC lets you achieve that. If you need to run other things on your HTPC then yes, Ubuntu or Windows will work.
As for the RPi 2, yes this will work as a nice HTPC with OE on it. This is much improved over the original RPi. Would I run one on my main setup? Nah probably not. On the TV in my bedroom that gets seldom used? Yeah sure. I want my main setup to be rock solid, and be able to play anything without breaking a sweat.
Thanks!
Thanks so much. Build 2 is working great with openelec. It’s worth noting that a larger ssd is not much more money (though not necessary). a tablet functions as a great remote (yatse on android). I’m also hearing that for $50 you can add a Pulse 8 cec-hdmi adapter that will allow control through the TV remote. My goal is to see if like xbmc more than plex. This build allows me to learn about htpcs with minimal cost.
One question though. If this is supposed to be a budget build, why not just put openelec on a USB stick that most people probably already have? I didn’t test it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The stick should fit nicely inside the front cover.
I have used openelec running from an usb stick for several years now.
And before that I even used a memory card (from my old canon camera) to run it from.
Both worked fine, you just have to have a motherboard that supports booting from such a device.
Thank you for this. I went with build #2 – haven’t set it up or tried it out yet, I just now ordered the parts. A couple enhancements plus good prices on the parts listed, came to about 250. I upgraded the SDD to 128GB (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009SX6VLC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) – on sale for 58$ right now! I also boosted the RAM to 1x4GB instead of 1x2GB – that is only 29.99! Again, thanks for the ideas – I’ve been building my own pcs for nearly 2 decades, but they’ve always been mid-full size tower builds. I’m interested to see how this works out!
I need a hdmi in and out and 7.1 line level outs. Whats the most cost effective way to integrate these into one of your builds? Kevin
I have build 2 and build 3 (with an older BOXDCCP847DYE) Celeron NUC and love them both.
They both scream on OpenELEC, with the only advantage going to build 2 if you want to play DVDs (I have a bigger case that has a Blue-ray drive in it). I use them for LiveTV/DVR combined with Mythbuntu backend and a NAS that contains my media library.